Rockingham Memorial Hospital has been ranked number one in Virginia for coronary interventional procedures by HealthGrades, the nation’s leading healthcare ratings company.

“We are thrilled with this acknowledgement of the quality of our coronary intervention program,” noted Dave Grembi, director, RMH Heart and Vascular Services. “This ranking is a testament to years of careful planning as well as to the day-to-day commitment, care, and diligence of our staff and physicians. It also speaks to the level of quality we intend to deliver when our cardiac surgery program begins later this year.”

Coronary intervention, also referred to as percutaneous coronary intervention, or PCI, is performed to open blocked arteries to the heart.

RMH opened its first cardiac catheterization lab in 1989 to perform diagnostic procedures. Physicians could determine whether arteries were blocked, but had to send patients to other facilities for treatment of the blockages.

In January 2003, with the addition of an interventional cardiologist to the staff, RMH began performing coronary interventional procedures, or PCI. PCI involves the insertion of a balloon catheter to open a blocked artery and often the placement of stents, small metal mesh “cages,” to hold the artery open. To date, RMH has performed more than 1,500 cardiac interventions with no deaths, Grembi noted.

In addition to receiving HealthGrades’ highest possible star ratings for coronary interventional procedures for 2007 and 2008, RMH also was recognized for all of the following clinical achievements in Cardiac Services:

 


 

 

 

 

 

 
 
  • Five-star rating for Coronary Interventional Procedures, 2007 & 2008
  • Five-star rating for Treatment of Heart Attack, 2007
  • Five-star rating for Treatment of Heart Failure, 2007 & 2008
  • Five-star rating for Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation, 2007
  • Received the highest possible star ratings for treatment of heart failure, 2007 & 2008
 

“It is important for our community to know that they can find high-quality cardiac care at RMH,” said RMH CEO T. Carter Melton Jr. “The significance of the HealthGrades recognition is in its indication of the quality of care RMH is committed to providing.”

The Tenth Annual HealthGrades Hospital Quality in America Study identifies key trends in the quality of care provided by approximately 5,000 hospitals nationwide. HealthGrades researchers analyzed Medicare discharges from virtually every U.S. hospital between 2004 and 2006. Risk-adjusted mortality and complication rates were calculated and hospitals were assigned a 1-star (poor), 3-star (as expected), or 5-star (best) quality rating for 28 diagnoses and procedures from heart failure to hip replacement to pneumonia.

“Our research shows that while the overall quality of hospital care in America is improving, the gap between the best-performing hospitals and the worst persists,” said Dr. Samantha Collier, HealthGrades’ chief medical officer and author of the study. “This persistent gap makes it imperative that anyone planning to be admitted to a hospital do their homework and seek out highly rated facilities.”

For full report details, go to www.healthgrades.com